Previous: Race issues, 2

There are moments when running or exercising or practicing something where I think to myself: I wish this would end soon. Something hurts. Something is boring. Something is uncomfortable. Please make it stop. Please make time go faster so it's over. Watch the clock until it ends. Count the number of repetitions down until zero.

And so on. It's natural. That's the brain trying to protect the body and itself. But that's where the good stuff is—in those same moments that I wish would go faster—so why rush?

I try—though let's be honest, not that often—to remind myself: this is where the good stuff is. Legs are tired while running? Perfect. That's the point of training. That's resistance and destruction in the service of some goal, some purpose. Maybe the point is that end state, really, but you have to remain calm in those intermediate states, maybe even learn to enjoy them. At the very least, there's no need to race through those uncomfortable states, but rather seek them out and get to know them well.